[사진 출처 = 연합뉴스]In an interview with the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the 14th (local time), Commander Carl Thomas of the US 7th Fleet, which has jurisdiction over the Indo-Pacific region, said, “It was Kim Jong-un’s story that the US 7th Fleet carrier, Ronald Reagan, was in the East Sea. It seems to have been irritating,” he said.
He was referring to the recently conducted joint South Korea-US-Korea-US-Japan joint exercise in the East Sea of the Ronald Reagan.
Commander Thomas, who pointed out that North Korea’s missile launches and other military actions were a concern, emphasized, “When they fired the missiles, we were in the East Sea and it meant that South Korea, the US and Japan were very cooperative.”
Commander Thomas said, “North Korea has recently claimed that the Reagan exercise in the East Sea is a provocation, but this exercise is a defensive exercise in response to North Korea’s provocation.”
“We have the ballistic missile defense capability to protect our allies and partners, and we have demonstrated our unwavering unity in this exercise,” he said.
“We definitely have ships with the ability to defend land,” he said.
When asked whether the 7th Fleet’s resources should be further concentrated in response to North Korean provocations, he said, “We always have resources available. answered.
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